Range-tracer projectile



June 22, 1937. s. F. WOODBURY. JR 2,084,366

RANGE TRACER PROJECTILE Filed July 20, 1955 2 Sheets-Sheet l gwve/ntoz SIDNEY F: WUODBURY JR- i June 22, 1937.

S. F. WOODBURY. JR

RANGE TRACER PROJECTILE Filed July 20, 1935 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 @R w u K, W 0 w k n N m 8 Patented June 22, 1937 PATENT OFFICE RANGE-TRACER PROJECTILE Sidney F. Woodbury, Jr., Portland, Oreg.

Application July 20, 1935, Serial No. 32,384

20 Claims.

This invention relates to projectiles for artillery and in particular to anti-aircraft projectiles where exceedingly rapid corrections of range and direction are essential if the fire of the guns is to be effective.

An object of my invention is to carry out the general idea that I have incorporated in the name for my new projectile, to simultaneously trace and accurately indicate the range of a projectile as it is fired from a gun, in such manner that the artilleryman may make corrections of range and direction without loss of time in making calculations.

A further object is a projectile which will leave a visible range-ladder or series of signals, preferably black, commencing at a definite time flight interval, before the shell explodes, the said signals being by predetermination spaced accurately with respect to each other and to the white burst when the ultimate explosion occurs.

A further object is a projectile which largely remedies the limitations of axial observation inherent in anti-aircraft fire and supplies an extremely rapid means of correcting range and elevation of fire, long recognized as essential to efficient conduct of rapid fire anti-aircraft defense.

These and other objects that will be at once apparent to ordinance technicians constitute the purpose of my new invention.

For convenience in disclosure of an excellent mode of construction and an explanation of a manner of use, drawings accompany and form a part of this specification, showing a schematic arrangement for attaining the above objects. Mod- 35 ifications of construction to adapt my new projectile to different conditions of use are contemplated to be within the scope of the invention and to be putatively covered by the appended claims.

In the drawings, Fig. I is a longitudinal view' of a projectile,

partly in section and partly diagrammatic, that embodies my invention in the best present form and offers advantages in economical manufacture. In this case it is shown as a high explosive shell;

Fig. II is a cross-section of Fig. I at II-II, Fig. I; and

Fig. III is a diagrammatic plat illustrating a schematic plan of fire control where my new invention may be utilized.

The projectile illustrated in Fig. I consists of a time fuse member I, delineated to represent the external appearance of the standard 2| second fuse, well known and needing no further detail drawing to be fully understood by those to whom 55 this disclosure is addressed.

2 is the ogive of the projectile, internally threaded at 3 to receive the threaded nipple 4 of the fuse l. 5 is the body of the projectile containing a chamber 6, arranged to contain a bursting charge, assumed to be under control of the fuse through the tube 1 and capable of being activated in the usual manner by pre-setting of the time indicating member of the fuse I before load ing the projectile into the gun. The explosive charge in 6 will be stoppered by the disc 8.

Forward of the chamber 6 and between it and the fuse l, is another chamber 9, which is subdivided, in this illustration, into four sub-chambers, 9a, 9b, 9c and 9d, by the discs 9|, 92, 93, for containing signal material or coloring matter of such nature that it will make a satisfactory signal when activated as hereinafter indicated. As many distinct signals may be made as there are means to isolate units of signal making material, the four shown being illustrative only.

Direct communication from the fuse l to subchamber 9d is supplied by the firing tube In. It will be arranged to activate the contents of subchamber 9d at a definite time interval before the fuse I activates the explosive charge in chamber 6. The activation of the signal material in subchamber 9d will be presumed to be instantaneous in point of time after the fuse l ignites the upper end of the firing tube I9.

Vent openings V are disposed around the periphery of the body 5 and through them the products of combustion of the material in sub-chamber 9d will be emitted in the form of a distinct signal having a definite time-flight relationship to the final or white burst of the contents of the chamber 6. The vents may be closed with suitable frangible material such as sealing wax, or other satisfactory means capable of being readily blown clear when 911 is fired.

Incorporated with disc 93 is a quick fuse member, 93 being the same one shown in plan in Fig. II. Firing the contents of sub-chamber 9d ignites 93f, shown to be provided with four points of ignition, a, b, c and d, to insure flame propagation, which are spaced between corresponding ignition points e, f, g and h on the reverse side of the fuse, 93f, arranged to timely ignite the contents of sub-chamber 9c at four points, whereupon the contents of 90 will become activated and blow the disc 93 down allowing the signal thus generated free access to the vents V.

The contents of the sub-chamber 9b and afterwards 9a. are timely activated in the same manner to produce a like result, a definite visible signal at a known time flight interval before the along the trajectory of the projectile and serving both as a series of tracer signals indicating the line of flight and a spaced range bracket of known formation and distance between signals, the mean velocity of the projectile being known.

Considering the diagrammatic plat, Fig. III;-

Two batteries, A and B, each consisting of four guns, Ai, A2, A3 and A l, and Bi, B2, B3 and B4, are firing at a target consisting of a three plane formation, P.

The four white bursts Ab, are from battery A and the four white bursts Bb are from battery B. The two series of black signals, As and Bs, are presumed to be from the No. 1 gun of each battery. In this case the range brackets have been predetermined at 500 yards between the white burst and the nearest black signal of the series and 500 yards between the black signals themselves, measuring backwards along the line of flight from the white burst. For instantaneous correction, the final distance from the gun is ignored except that the timing for explosion of the bursting charge is known.

Assuming that the range setting for both batteries had been 3,000 yards, then by visual observation of the relative positions of the white bursts, the signals and the target, the instantaneous correction will be battery A down 500 yards, battery B down 750 yards.

With the foregoing description of the projectile itself and the suggestion as to the manner of its use, artillery and ordnance experts will be able to realize the full advantage of my invention without further explanation.

What I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is,-

1. An artillery shell comprising an apertured container having a fuse means on one end, bursting means positioned within said container soas to leave a chamber intermediate said fuse and said bursting'means, partitions in said chamber, ignitible smoke charges between said partitions and means whereby said smoke charges are fired in timed relationship to the flight of the shell to emit from an aperture 21. series of spaced smoke clouds along the path of flight of the shell, said firing means being finally effective toburst said bursting means.

2. A range-tracer shell for artillery comprising a shell container having an aperture through a wall thereof, a timing fuse operatively mounted on the container, means forming a plurality of compartments aft the fuse, smoke making material in said compartments and means operable to serially activate said charge material in timed relationship to flight of the shell, whereby a series of smoke signals will be emitted along the flight path of the shell to indicate its path and range.

3. A range-tracer projectile comprising in combination a body, means forming a plurality of chambers within the body, ignitible smoke producing means in said chambers, fuse means for serially igniting said smoke producing means and vent means in said body for emitting therefrom the smoke from said smoke producing means, said fuse means being arranged to ignite said smoke producing means to effect a predeterminedly spaced ladder of visible signals.

4. An artillery projectile comprising in combination means forming a chamber, a plurality of signal charges of combustible material in said chamber, a plurality of fuse elements arranged to serially ignite said signal charges at predewhite burst, thus forming a visible range ladder termined time intervals, a vent arranged to emit from the projectile the products of combustion of said signal charges upon ignition thereof by a fuse whereby a visible range ladder remains along the path of flight of the shell.

5. A range tracer shell defined in part as a body having an internal chamber, divisional partitions in said chamber, a plurality of combustible signal charges and a bursting charge normally isolated by said partitions, an adjustable time fuse for activation of one charge and fixed time fuse members arranged for successive activation of the remaining charges following combustion of the first charge.

6. A range tracer projectile defined in part as a body member having an internal chamber, partitions in said chamber to define a plurality of compartments, a bursting charge in one compartment and signal charges in the other compartments and fuse means on and within the body that are arranged to activate the signal charges and the bursting charge seriatim, in timed relationship to the flight of the projectile.

7. An artillery shell comprising a hollow body member provided with vents in the wall thereof, a plurality of signal charges and a bursting charge within the hollow body, isolation means arranged to effectively separate said charges, a variable time fuse that is arranged to initiate activation of a charge to cause the emission of a signal through the Vents and set fuse means effective to activate the remaining charges in spaced relationship to said signal.

8. An artillery shell comprising a body containing a vented chamber, a plurality of divisional partitions in said chamber, a plurality of signal charges separated by said partitions, a variable fuse on the body that is adapted to ignite a primary signal charge and internal fuses that are effective to ignite the other signal charges seriatim in timed relationship to the flight of the shell.

9. An artillery shell comprising a hollow body, divisional means in said hollow body, a plurality of ignitible charges separated by said divisional means comprising one bursting charge and a plurality of signal charges and fuse means arranged within and without said body that are effective to ignite said charges seriatim in timed relationship to the flight of the shell.

10. In a projectile of the character described, a hollow body member, a plurality of partitions in said body that are effective to isolate charges of combustible material, charges between said partitions, a vent in the wall of said body that communicates with the interior thereof and material in said vent that is arranged to blow out under the influence of combustion of the first ignited charge of material.

11. The combination as claimed in claim 10 characterized by the partitions being arranged to successively yield under influence of serial combustion of isolated charges to emit the products of combustion through the vent as spaced signals.

12. An artillery shell comprising a hollow vented body member, divisional partitions in the hollow of the body to define a plurality of normally isolated chambers adapted to contain combustibles, equally timed fuses in said partitions affording fire communication between the chambers, and a variable time fuse on the body that is arranged to deliver fire to a chamber at a selected time after the shell is fired from a gun.

13. An artillery shell comprising a body provided with a plurality of internal compartments and a signal vent in the wall of the body, ignitible signal material in said compartments, a timeable fuse for igniting one of the contained signal charges and equal fuse means for consecutively igniting the remaining signal charges that are effective to space the signals according to a predetermined pattern.

14. A range tracer projectile comprising in combination a vented hollow body, a plurality of partitions in the hollow portion of said body delimiting separated chambers, ignitible smoke producing means in said chambers, a time fuse on the body for initiating ignition of said smoke producing means in one of the chambers and additional fuse means that are progressively effective to cause emission of equally spaced signals through the vent from the other chambers.

15. A range tracer projectile defined in part as a body member having an internal chamber, divisional partitions in said internal chamber to define a plurality of separated compartments, a bursting charge in one compartment and a plurality of signal charges in the other compartments and fuse means on and Within the body that are arranged to activate the signal charges and the bursting charges seriatim, beginning at a selected time after the projectile is discharged.

16. An artillery shell comprising a hollow body member provided with vents in the wall thereof, a plurality of partitions within said hollow body to define a plurality of compartments, a bursting charge in one compartment and signal charges in the other compartments that are arranged to communicate with the vents and fuse means arranged to activate said signal charges and the bursting charge to emit a predeterminedly spaced series of signals along the path of shell trajectory, beginning at a selected time after the shell is discharged.

1'7. In a projectile, a signaling system comprising a shell provided with a vented inner chamber, divisional partitions in said chamber, signal charges between said partitions and plural fuses effective to serially ignite the charges whereby a charge when ignited emits a signal through a vent.

18. In a projectile provided with a vented inner chamber, movable divisional means in said chamber, signal charges separated by said divisional means and fuses arranged for seriatim activation to ignite the charges whereby to deliver spaced visible signals through the vent.

19. In an artillery projectile, a shell member provided with an inner chamber and a venting means in the wall of the chamber, divisional means in the inner chamber to define a plurality of compartments, ignitible signal material charges isolated in said compartments by said divisional means and a plurality of time fuses that are adapted to ignite the said charges seriatim, whereby a plurality of signals are emitted in definitely spaced relationship through said venting means.

20. In a projectile, a hollow body, a plurality of divisional means within said body to define separated chambers, signal charges in said chambers, time fuses arranged for seriatim activation of the signal charges according to a predetermined sequence and a frangible area in the wall of the hollow body that is effective to yield under the influence of activation of the signal charges to permit emission of signals from the chambers.

SIDNEY F. WOODBURY, JR. 

